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Microsoft Invests in Rogers
GRW wrote in
with a link to a story about Microsoft investing in Rogers, Canada's
largest cable company. The $600M (I'm assuming that's CDN) is meant to "change
the way Canadians watch TV". Microsoft says Rogers will use "Microsoft's
television platform". Is that CE, or something more general?
So, Microsoft in set-top boxes, eh? Will the box have a little "blue LED of death" to indicate when I should reboot it? Rebooting via the remote would be a real plus.
If it crashes in the middle of a PPV screening, do I get my money back?
What a joke on economic reasoning: Microsoft and Roger's strike agreements on the latter party forcing MS technology down the throats of its clients, and than it is said Microsoft also will make a CDN $600 ... investment in Rogers to further demonstrate Microsoft's commitment to Rogers success in developing and rolling out new digital services. They present this as if the agreements are unrelated to the investment and the investment is primarily symbolic ("demonstrate commmitment").
"Working with"?! They have been buying cable share like mad. I wonder what their ownership percentage of all cable companies globally is by now.
Rogers Communications and Microsoft to Bring Advanced Television Services to Canada
http://www.microsof t.com/presspass/features/1999/07-12tvpak.htm
-cjr
Microsoft and the executives within have been buying or buying stake in cable companies left and right. ASDL hasn't taken off nearly fast enough so it looks like cable modems are winning the consumer bandwidth war, at least in the short term. I'm out in a small community in Wisconsin and I've got a cable modem, if I held my breath waiting for the phone companies to do ASDL here I'd be dessicating before it happened.
As a result of this cable companies will be even bigger money than they are now. This is the next frontier Microsoft wants to assimilate.
Actually thats incorrect. Presently we watch TV drinking either Molson's or Labatt's beer while eating slabs of back bacon and wearing toques. After the investment we'll all be issued Microsoft logoed beer hats. Personally I feel that as long as the flow rate of the beer through the apparatus is fast enough I don't mind at all.
Yes, that's pocket change for Microsoft. I feel sorry for those living North of our border. The company that milked us good now invades our Northern neighbor and gives them a proprietary standard they can't refuse. All your news, information, and the world around you will sure to be innovative by today's standards. Everyone will soon have the One True Service from One Microsoft Way.
I have a deep technological respect for the Microsoft Television Platform. Why, if it weren't for all those old windows cd's holding up my television set, the darn thing would wobble all the time.
I really hate buzz-phrases like this. I got this mental image of a bunch of Canadians hanging upside down bat-style from their lampshades so they could watch TV differently.
I'm now very glad that my parents got a mini dish. My Canada does not include MSRogers.
-- themenace
They have already bought huge plots of land in Vancouver, and I think Canada will welcome their half trillion USD company without any silly old restrictions on business practices.
$600M CDN is ~ $50.00 US. Microsoft was probably just paying their cable bill. Nothing to worry about everyone, move along...
Rogers doesn't (afaik) create any content, they're just a carrier. I doubt the CRTC will relax it's Canadian Content legislation, even for Billy; so does this mean a big shiny new "Microsoft TV Productions" office tower for Toronto?
"I use the words you taught me. If they don't mean anything any more, teach me others. Or let me be silent"
The Microsoft deal is probably to put the WebTV interface into the set-tops. Microsoft has recently started porting the WebTV software to other boxes (Gen Inst, Sci Atl, etc..) so it looks like this will be some kind of "proof of concept". I noticed that they didn't mention whether it was digital set-tops or analog...the difference being that the digitals are much better with the interactive content than the analogs. I'm just wondering how they're going to do the return-path (that's when you buy something on your TV, how does the box "talk" to the rest of the world). Most WebTV's use a telco (phone line) return... Anyone know what kind of box is in place there? Some interesting links to check out.. http://www.microsoft.com/dtv/ Microsoft's official interactive TV stuff http://www.atvef.com/ The specs for sending web pages over TV The e-mail is drawcab!